Clock-winding mechanism.



1. w. BRYCE.

CLOCK WINDlNG MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 31,1917.

Patented Apr. 1,1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Que/W02? WWW V Q W 1. w. BRYCE.-

CLOCK WINDING MECHANISM. v

APPLICATION FILED-JULY 31,19l'f. 1,299,] 16, Patented Apr. 1,1919.

6 SHEET-S-SHEET 2.

J. W. BRYCE.

CLOCK WINDING MECHANlSM.

APPLICATIGN FILED 1ULY31. 19l7-' 1 ,299, 1 1 6. Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

J. W. BRYCE.

CLOCK wmnme MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JULY 31,1917

Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEETA.

l. W. BRYCE.

CLOCK WINDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION mso jun 31, 19%.

1,299, 1 1 6w Patented Apr. 1,1919,

5 SHEETS SHEET 5..

5] wve nfoz 351 v Clue anew J. W. BRYCE.

.cwcx WINDING MECHANISM APPLICATION FILED JULY 3!, 19H.

Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

6 SHEETSSHEET 6.

JAMES W. BRYCE, 0F BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

CL'OCK-WINJ DING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application fl ed m 31, 1917. Serial No. 183,668.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES W. BRYCE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bloomfield, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Clock-Winding Mechanismfof which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in clock winding mechanism and has for its object the provision of devices which will automatically restore energy in a clock driving motor such as' a spring. The power for winding the spring is preferably derived from an electric power circuit, for example an electric light circuit. Electric lighting circuits have been previously used for rewinding clock springs, but in many cases this method of applying the energy of an electric light circuit for clock winding purposes has been unsatisfactory since the current in the lighting circuit was subject to interruptions and in case the clock motor ran down at a period when the current was off the line, no rewinding would occur and the clock would stop.

On account of the fact that the current interruptions-in these electrical power circuits do not take place at any stated intervals or stated times, difiicult has been encountered with many electricat rewinding clocks.

Certain of these clocks rewind at certain different time intervals, for example every minute or every hour. If the current was interrupted during these particular time instances, the rewinding would not take place properly. In factories there is usually a complete current interruption from a certain time on Saturday until Monday morning,

and sometimes with a holiday on Monday, the current would be interrupted until the succeeding day. The present invention provides'a clock spring and motor rewindin device of such character that the cloc spring will carry over for these long durations of periods of current interruptions.

In the use of clocks for driving or controlv ling the driveof workmenstime recorders the i'ewinding circuit is usually a factory power circuit. .On'these circuits there is a complete interruption of current during the nightand the use of minute rewinding or hour rewind clocks is precluded in such places. With the present invention the conto get out of order when in use.

time when the current again comes upon the line The clock spring, however, is of such a character and is so disposed "that the clock will be carried over theseperibds of.

current interruption'without stopping.

Other objects of the invention reside in the provision of a train of mechanism between the winding motor and .the clock spring of such character that the winding of the spring by an electric motor does not Patented. Apr. 1, 1919.

in any way affect theoperation of the clock.

Other objects of the invention reside in the provision of certain details of construction which make the apparatus simple and inexpensive to manufacture and not likely The construction herein explained also employs many well known standard electric parts which have'been proven satisfactory in practice' in other applications and which are safe from an insulation standpoint In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of a clo. kt havin'g associated therewith myimproved rtewinding mechanism. Certain parts ofi theelock dial are shown broken away. to'show the interior construction.

Fig.2 isa side elevation of the construction shown in Fig.1 showing the gear connections between the winding motor and the clock spring. t Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of a por tion of the gear train shown in Fig. 1, and

with the front frame plate and certain other Fig. 4. is a detail sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is across sectional detail view of one.of the clock winding springs and a partof the gear train for rewindingthe spring.

This view is taken on line 5-5 of Fig;

Fig. 6 is a sideview of the differential mechanism formingfa part'ofthe winding train. This figure showsthe right hand side ofthe differential shown in Fig. .4. with the left hand gear removed...

Fig. 7 is a detail view showing how the frame plates of the mechanism are supported together, and how the worm shaft is supported in position.

Fig. 8 is a detail view of the electric ,switch which controls the current to the re spring. These views illustrate a construction in which the spring is wound from one end in which the clock drive is taken off from the other end of the spring.

. In more detail in the drawings, 10 is the cabinet containing the clock rewinding mechanism. The clock has the usual minute hand 11 and hour hand 12, interconnected through gears 13 and 14: in the usual manner. The details of the clock mechanismare not shown as they are of usual construction. It is suificient here to state that gear 15,

shown in Fig. 2 is a gear which meshes with the usual clock train. This gear 15 connects with the driving spring through the train of gearing now to be described.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 5, gear 15 has rigidly secured thereto a spur gear 16 (see Fig. 5) which gear meshes with a small pinion 17, which in turn meshes with a similar small pinion 18. These gears 17. and 18 are best shown in Fig. 3. hey rotate 0n studs 19, which studs arerig ldly secured to two annular rings 20. These annular rings 20 are secured together by'three studs 21, and

are spaced apart by; cooperating spacing blocks 22. The studs 21 secure the annular rings 20 to a'large gear 23 (see Fig; 5). It is this gear 23, which connects with the electric motor rewinding mechanism as will be hereinafter described. Referring again to the two interconnecting small pinions 17 and 18, pinion 18 intermeshes with the gear 24, which is preferably pinned to the central springarbor 25. This spring arbor 25 has fastened rigidly to it the inner end of the coilspring 26. The oute end of this coil spring 26 is rigidly fastened to a post 27, carried by a frame part on the machine and best shown in Fig. 5. From the ensuing description. it will be seen that the clock spring 26 both drives the clock mechanism 60" and is' rewound at the same end thereof. The differential train of gearing just described causes the spring to exertv energy upon the clock mechanism.

First-consider the motor winding gear 23 stationary, which. is the normal condition when rewindin is not occurring. Spring 26 will turn s'ha t 25 clockwise thereby turning pinion 24 and through intermeshing pinions 18 and 17 driving gears 16 and 15 in a counterclockwise direction to turn the clock mechanism.

Now consider gear 23 rotating in a counterclockwise direction which is its direction of movement when the motor (to be hereafter described) is rewinding the spring. As gear 16 cannot move ahead faster than the clock will permit it, the pinions 17 and 18 will act as a differential and drive the gear 24: in a counterclockwise direction. This counterclockwise direction of movement of gear 24 will rewind the clock spring 26. Due to the differential connection between gears 16 and 24:, while the spring 26 is being rewound by an electric motor which drives gear 23 it will be possible for the clock to continue to move ahead unde the influence of the torque of spring 26 and the rewinding torque which is imparted from gear 23.

The foregoing description has been given with reference to the construction shown in Fig. 5 and the part shown in the upper right hand corner of Fig. 3. It will be understood that in the present construction there are two springs and two corresponding trains of gearing for driving them. The description need not be-repeated for the second spring as the action is identical. Gears 23 both intermesh with the common gear 28, best shown in Fig. 3. It is through this common gear 28 that the connections to the direction. This worm gear which is shown in Figs, 1, 2 and 3 1S rigidly secured to a hub 34. This hub carries two pinions 35 and 36, one on each end thereof, these pinions being rigidly fastened to thre hub and to the worm gear so as to rotate in unison therewith. The left hand pinion-35 meshes with a pinion 37,- forming one part of a speed reducing differential mechanism (see Fig. 4). The pinion 36 on the right hand side of hub 34 meshes wi h an idler gear '38 (see Figs. 2 and 3). This idler gear 38 in turn meshes with-a pinion 39, which is also a part of the differential speed reducing gear. The function of the idler pinion 38 is to reverse the direction of movement impartedto gear 39 by 36, so that this gear 39 will movein an opposite direction of rotation to the movement of gear 37. In order that gears 37 and 39 should not move at equal speeds the number of teeth on one side of the train leading to the gear 39 is different from the number of teeth on the other side. This diflerence in pitch ratio is quite slight so that gear 39 will have a slightly higher speed of rotation counterclockwise than will the speed of clockwise rotation of gear 37. Gear 37 has secured to it a bevel gear 40. Gear 39 has likewise secured to it a bevel gear 41. These bevel gears are free to rotate about a shaft 42 suitably carried in the frame of the machine. Also freely rotatable about the shaft 42 is a cage 43, carrying studs 44 which form journals for bevel pinions 46. These pinions 46 intermesh on their opposite sides with bevel gears 40 and 41 respectively. The parts just described constitute a speed reducing diderential, and themotion of the gears is such that the cage 43 of this diiferential will slowly progress about shaft 42 in a counterclockwise direction. The cage 43 has secured to it at the left, as shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 2, a spur gear 47. This spur gear 47 intermeshes with gear 28 and is adapted to drive it in a clockwise direction during the revolution of the motor M. The object of the diiierential mechanism shown in Figs.

"4 and 6 is to permit the motor M to make a large number of revolutions during an eX- tzemely small number of revolutions of the gear 28, and its interconnected clock springs 26. This dillerential reducing gear construction permits an extremely small motor to be used forrewinding purposes and also rewinds the spring slowly, thereby preventing frequent breakages due to sudden winding' shocks being imparted to the springs.

Motor driving mcchanism.In order that the electric circuit to the rewinding electric motor. M be established I provide a switching mechanism which is controlled in accordance with the condition of springs 26. It may be here stated that this switching mechanism is so arranged that the circuit will be established to the motor M long before the springs have become entirely unwound. in other words a large amount of energy is at all times in reserve upon the springs whereby the clock can be driven for an extended period without the springs-being rewound by theelectrie motor. By an arrangement now to be described it is possible for the clock spring to carry over for long periods irrespective of interruptions'of the source of electric power for operating the motor M.

" Onthe end of spring shaft 25 isa one tooth gear 50 (see Figs. 5, 1 and 8). This onetooth gear it will be understood rotates as the springs unwind and upon every complete' revolution thereof the single-tooth is adapted to advance a segment plate 51, one

step in a counterclockwise direction. Onetooth gear 50 and segment plate 51 operate on the Geneva stop. principlewhich is so 7 well known that ts action need not'be described in further detail. When the segment plate 51 has advanced a predetermined num ber of steps in a counterclockwise direction a pin 52 carried by this plate will contact with an arm 53 of a switch controlling plate 54. This switch controlling plate is piv oted to rock on stud 55 and has a lower depending end 56 engaging between collars on a spindle 57 (see Fig. 8). This spindle 57 on its end carries an element of a canopy switch 58. This canopy switch is the well known type now on the market and need not be described in further detail. It is sufiicientito state that when spindle 57 moves to the left under the influence of plate 54, the circuit will be established from Wires 59 to wires 60 which lead to the motor M. Switch 58 is preferably incased in a metal box 61 and the wires 59 lead into this box through a conduit 62. The upper end of conduit 62 carries a socket 63 through which extend the wires to the electric power circuit (see Fig. 1)." Wires 60 extend out-of the box 61 through a porcelain insulator 64.

. These parts it will'be understood are stand that tl ey are adapted to prevent any leak-' age of current in or about the clock which might cause short circuits and possible danger of fire.

Referring again to the segment 51 it should be noted that should the pin 52 contact with fork 53 and rock the plate 54 while the electric motor circuit is broken due to the interruptions in the 'current supply, pin 52 will pass beyond the fork 53, but plate 54 will remain in its displaced position maintaining the circuit established at switch 58. As thespring 26 is rewound by the electric motor the spring arbor 25 will be rotated in a counterclockwise direction'. iThe arbor 25 will turn one tooth gear terclockwise, shifting spindle 57 to the right and breaking the electric circuit by means of switch The rotation of the motor M i will then cease just before the springs are completely rewound.

In order that the condition of the spring may be at all times apparent I preferably provide an uindicating mechanism comprising a pointr connected with a link 71,

This plate is in operated by a plate 51 all respects similar to the plate 51 heretofore described, and is drivenv from the spring arbor shaft'25 of the other, namely tl'ierright hand spring.

adjustable winding geanwhich is-shpwn in In order to rewind the spring 26, should ,the motor become disabled, Iprovide an ig's. 9 and 10. Tliis winding gear comprises a stub shaft which is adapted to take into a recess 7 6 in a frame member of the machine. The stub shaft 75 carries a large pinion 77 which has secured on the outer face thereof a handle 78; Pinion 77 is adapted to mesh with the pinion 7 9 on the end of the worm shaft 31. By means of .this winding apparatus the spring can be wound up should the motor M be disabled for any reason. Fig. 7 shows! the mounting of the worm shaft 31. This-worm shaft is journaled in the box 0 which forms spacing members interme iate the two frame members 81. The said frame members are held together by means of the stud 82.

I also contemplate the employmen of a phonograph type of spring, in whih the spring is wound up at one end and in which the drive to the clock is taken off from the opposite end of the spring. This construction enables me to dispense with the ditferential gear illustrated in Fig. 5. In Fig. 11, gear 28 which corresponds with a similar lettered gear in Fig. 3, meshes with the spur gear 90. This gear has fastened to it a sleeve member 91 which is notched as A shown at 92 (see Fig. 11) to receive rollers 93 which coact with an annular hub 94 pinned to an arbor shaft 95. Arbor shaft 95 has fastened to it aspring 96 which spring, at its outer end, is fastened to a cage 97. Cage 97, in turn, has fastenedto it a gear 98 which drives the clock mecha nism. This gear, it will be understood, cor responds with gear 15 as shown in Fig. 5. It may be here stated that with the construction just described it is necessary that gear 28 be driven in a reverse direction than heretofore. This is preferably accomplished by changing the ratio of the teeth on the speed reducing differential gear illustrated in Fi 2. In winding s .irin 96 the g r l a:

gear 90 rotates ina clockwise direction there by clamping the balls 93 against notches 92 and against the boss 94, and thereby carrying the arbor 95 around in unison with. gear 90. During the time of this rewinding it will be readily understood that power can be transmitted to the clock mech anism through gear 98 since this gear 98 is connected to the outer and opposite end of the spring. The purpose .of the ball clutch mechanisnn'shown i'n Ei sll and 12, is to permit the arbor shaft 95 to be rewound by hand by applying a key to the squared end 95. When the key is thus utilized the balls 93 will be cammed around into the deep" part of the notches 92 and the arbor 95 can then be turned without turning gear 90 and its interconnected gear train.

It will be. understood that my invention is susceptible of various modifications which will be clear to those skilled in the art.

What I claim as my invention is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device of the class described, comprising in combination, a clock driving motor in which power may be stored to drive the clock, means for restoring power therein from time to time, said means comprising an electric motor, and a gear train connecting said electric motor and the clock driving motor, said gear train comprising in part a differential gear having different numbers of teeth thereon at the opposite sides thereof, whereby the electric motor may rotate at a high speed and the clock motor may be rewound at a comparatively slow speed.

2. A device of the class described, comprising in combination, a clock driving motor in which power may be stored for driving the clock, an electric motor for rest/o l ng power therein, and a gear train connecting said electric motor and the clock motor, said gear train comprising in part a differential gear so associated with the clock motor that the latter may continue to exert energy upon the clock mechanism during a restoring of power insaid clock motor by the electric motor.

3. A device of the class described, comprising in combination, arlock driving motor such as a coiled spring adapted to have power stored therein, an electric motor for restoring power therein from time to time, a gear train intermediate the electric motor and the clock driving motor, said train including a speed reducing differential gearing'adapted to permit the electric motor to rotate at high speed when restoring energy in the clock motor at low speed, and a second differential gearing so associated with the clock motor that thesaid clock motor will exert energy upon the clock mechanism during the operation of restoring energy therein.

4. In a device of the class described, in combination, a clock mechanism, a spring for driving said mechanism, an electric motor for rewinding the said spring, an electric circuit, a switch for conncctihg the momma the electric circuit, a rocking platefor' act b ating said switch, and means actuated one direction by the clock spring as it actsupon the clock mechanism to shift and set said locking plate to close the electric circuit at a predetermined time, and actuated in the reverse direction by said spring when the latter is being rewound and acting upon said rocking plate at a predetermined time to shift and set the same to open said switch.

5. In a device of the class described, in

combination, a clock mechanism, a'spring for driving said mechanism, an electric motor for rewmdmg the sald spr1ng,-anelectr1c circuit, a swltch for connectmg the motor to the"electric circuit, a rocking plate for actuating said switch, :1 Geneva stop plate adapted to be actuated in one direction by the clock spring as it acts upon the clock mechanism, whereby to shift and set said rocking plate to close the electric circuit at a predetermined time, said Geneva stop plate being actuated in the opposite direction by the clock spring when said sprin is being rewound and acting upon said rociing plate at a predetermined time to shift and set the same to open said switch.

6., In a device of the class described, in combination, a clock mechanism, a coiled spring for driving the said mechanism, an electric motor for rewinding the said coil spring, a power circuit, a switch for connecting the motor to the power circuit, means for actuating said switch, said means comprising a member adapted to be shifted in one direction to close the switch and to be shifted in an opposite direction to open. said switch, and a Geneva stop plate adapted to be positioned by a part moved in accordance with the degree of winding of the spring for actuating the" aforesaid member.

7. In a device of the class described, in

spring as to cause the energy of the spring combination, a clock mechanism, a plurality of springs for driving the same, and means for rewinding said springs, said means comprising an electric motor, a Worm shaft driven thereby, a worm gear driven by said worm,

a speed reducing differential gear driven for rewinding said springs, said means comprising an electric motor, a worm shaft driven thereby, a worm gear driven by said Worm, a speed reducing differential gear driven by said worm gear, a main drivin gear driven by the cage of the aforesaid dir ferential gear and soy associated with said to'be continuously exerted upon the cloeir mechanism during the rewmdmg operation. In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiiir my signature, g

JAMES W. 

